


Liberty

by rosetico



Series: Ad Libertatem [1]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Cassian Andor-centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Cassian Andor, Hurt/Comfort, Slave! Cassian, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 17:22:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9335000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosetico/pseuds/rosetico
Summary: Cassian Andor was branded as a slave when he was four and put on the market a month later.Two years later he was bought by a rebel agent who took pity on him and was brought to Yavin 4 shortly thereafter.A year later the rebel agent was captured and killed by the Empire while on a mission in Bastion.Cassian Andor became the property of the Alliance.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Find the original prompt [here.](http://rogueonekink.dreamwidth.org/1084.html?thread=337724#cmt337724)  
> Written for this prompt:  
> The reason Cassian is fighting for the Alliance is because they own him. Maybe Draven bought/rescued him and secretly kept him. Or maybe Cassian had to sell himself for a huge favor and someone in the Alliance owns him. 
> 
> \+ this explains why he says to Jyn that he disobeyed orders and she wouldn't understand (also Chirrut mentions that he carries his prison wherever he goes so he kinda knows)  
> ++ Cassian has learnt to hide his injuries/punishments over the years so he avoids medical assistance like the plague (he programmed k2 to help)  
> +++ After failing to kill Galen, Cassian submits himself for punishment for disobeying orders and he hides the aftermath from the crew  
> ++++ Cassian and crew are saved as he has a tracker/implant  
> +++++ crew finds out about everything and they free Cassian (extra angst if he doesn't know it at first and thinks his ownership is merely transferred)  
> ++++++ Cassian being matter of fact about being used and beaten

I.

Cassian Andor was not born a slave. If he thought hard enough, he could remember the snow-capped mountains of Fest and the smiles of his parents.

He didn’t have to think hard about the night the raiders came, looting and pillaging everything. He didn’t have to think at all to remember the screams that pierced the night or the scent of blood that tainted the air.

(His legs burned from running, and he desperately wanted to look behind him to see if his parents were following, but should he turn around he was afraid of what he might see.)

 

II.

Cassian Andor was branded as a slave when he was four and put on the market a month later.

Two years later he was bought by a rebel agent who took pity on him and was brought to Yavin 4 shortly thereafter.

A year later the rebel agent was captured and killed by the Empire while on a mission in Bastion.

Cassian Andor became the property of the Alliance.

 

III.

In retrospect, Cassian should have said something different. Maybe, if he asked to council to free him then they would’ve. Maybe, if he had not spoken at all then none of this would have happened.

“Are you my master?” He asked. The man looked confused at first, but then smiled kindly.

“I supposed I am.” He said.

(Cassian found out later that his name was Davits Draven.)

 

IV.

At first, Draven was kind.

Cassian was just a child and quickly became popular among other rebels’ children. They told him stories of their own home planets and made him feel welcome. Cassian grew particularly attached to one who claimed to also be from Fest.

But one day those who he could joke with disappeared and Cassian found himself in the middle of a training room, blaster in hand, and being told to shoot.

(He did.)

 

V.

The day Cassian turned thirteen, he had asked Draven if they were going to celebrate (he had overheard the other children talking about theirs). Draven looked at him strangely, and said, “Slaves don’t have birthdays.”

(Cassian stopped counting the days after that.)

  
VI.

The first time Cassian killed someone was on a nameless planet in a nameless colony. It was on the outskirts of Imperial territory, and it was Cassian’s first mission without Draven being there with him (he had asked him to come, but Draven told him he was too old to need supervision).

Cassian hadn’t been careful enough, and found himself cornered by two stormtroopers. He knocked the first unconscious easily, but had trouble with the second. Without thinking, he reached for his blaster and fired.

 

VII.

Draven stared down at him, an unreadable expression on his face.

“You know what this means, Andor.” He said. Cassian nodded and took off his shirt. He kneeled before Draven, hands on his head and face nearly touching the floor.

(He tended to the marks that night, room lit only by the silvery moonlight that came through the window.)

 

VIII.  
Cassian met K-2SO as Joreth Sward, an assistant to an Imperial general on Vulpter. Grendeef had told him K-2SO was junk, so Cassian decided to reprogram him instead of melting him down.

He left Joreth Sward behind, stole a ship, and left Vulpter with K-2SO on board.

(Cassian decided to give him freewill because even if he couldn’t be free, then maybe he could.)

 

IX.

The day he met Mon Mothma was the day Cassian realized that not everybody who fought for the rebellion was a slave.

“What is this?” She asked, her hand brushing over a purpling bruise on Cassian’s cheek.

Cassian waved her off. “Nothing.” He said.

(Draven was more careful after that; he never left marks. At least not where they could see them.)

 

X.

Jyn Erso stood for everything Cassian knew nothing about. She was fire, independence and defiant against any kind of authority. She was the kind of person Cassian was not.

 

XI.

Jyn Erso made him questions his orders. She gave him the tools to think for himself once. (She made him disobey direct orders.)

 

XII.

Cassian fumbled with the lock picks, inserting one into the lock.

“There is more than one type of prison, Captain Andor. I sense you carry yours wherever you go.”

Cassian said nothing.

(Cassian bore his prison on the back of his neck, where a small symbol lay, marking him as a slave.)

 

XIII.

Cassian failed to kill Galen Erso, father to Jyn Erso and mechanic and builder of the greatest weapon of the Empire. Cassian had failed to obey Draven’s commands, and perhaps if Jyn had not made him think for himself once than he wouldn’t have disobeyed.

“I disobeyed my orders.” Cassian stated, the words coming out harsher than he meant them to.

(Jyn Erso didn’t understand. None of them did.)

 

XIV.

Draven sighed, only his face betraying his appearance of utmost patience.

“Andor.” He snapped. “Shirt off.”

 

XV.

Cassian boarded the ship heading for Scarif along with Jyn, Bodhi, Chirrut, Baze, and twelve other rebels. It was barely enough, but they would have to make it work.

(Rogue One, Bodhi called them.)

  
XVI.

Cassian fought through his aching ribs and back, ignoring the flares of pain as a stormtrooper slammed him into a wall.

 

XVII.

Cassian momentarily blacked out from pain as he hit the balcony of the archive tower. The metal mesh dug into his back. He lay there, fading in and out of consciousness.

(Cassian watched as the figure of Jyn grew more and more distant.)

 

XVIII.

Cassian climbed the archive tower, his back aflame and one hand clutching his side.

 

XIX.

Cassian shot Krennic without hesitation and collapsed into Jyn’s arms.

“We did it...” She mouthed as they transmitted the plans. They stared up at the sky, and hoped that someone was listening.

 

XX.

Cassian had seen the destruction caused by the Death Star on Jedha and had lived to tell the tale. He was not so sure he would live through it a second time.

 

XXI.

Cassian and Jyn sat at the water’s edge—water lapping at their feet and sand coating their legs—as the white horizon approached them.

“Captain Andor!” Someone shouted. They turned; a rebel ship had landed, doors open and waiting for them.

 

XXII.

Cassian Andor woke up in his room, bandages around his middle and his back healed. His fingers absentmindedly found their way to the raised skin on the back of his neck, a permanent reminder of what he was.

 

XXIII.

One day Bodhi casually asked him;

"Hey Cassian, when’s your birthday?"

"Birthday." Cassian repeated the word carefully. The syllables felt awkward on his tongue. “I don’t know.” He said.

“Oh.” Bodhi said.

 

XXIV.

They all came to him eventually, each with their own way of asking. But they all asked. Questions that demanded answers.

(Answers that Cassian did not have.)

 

XXV.

“What are you?” Jyn demanded.

(“A slave. A rebel intelligence officer. A spy. An imperial general. A smuggler. A captain.” Cassian wanted to say.)

"I don't know," he said instead.

 

XXVI.

“Hey Cassian,” Bodhi said, curled up against his side. “What do you like to do?” Cassian gave him a blank stare.

“Like in your free time.” Bodhi elaborated.

“Free time.” Cassian echoed.

They stared at him expectantly.

Cassian shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know.”

 

 

XXVII.

“Where did these come from?” Chirrut asked gently. His fingers ghosted over old scars, silvery skin and raised portions.

(Draven, he wanted to say.)

"The war." Cassian replied.

(It was partially true.)

 

 

XXVIII.

Cassian walked into the common room, engrossed in some paperwork Draven ordered him to complete.

“What is that?” Baze gestured to the branding on the back of his neck.

Cassian self-consciously put a hand over it.

“Nothing.” He said.

 

XXIX.

Cassian caught the tail end of a conversation between Chirrut, Baze, and Jyn.

“.... symbol.”  
“What does it mean?”

“It means our Captain is not all that he says he is.”

(Cassian did not stay to hear the rest of the conversation.)

 

XXX.

Draven came to Cassian the next day, fury painting his face red.

"You told them!" He screamed. He hit Cassian hard, knocking him down.

Cassian did not speak a word while Draven beat him.

(What would he say?)

 

XXXI.

In the end, it was K-2SO who told them.

Cassian should not have gone to K-2SO with his face a myriad of purples and greens, blood dripping of the corner of his mouth. But he did.

"Kay." He croaked, and stumbled into the common room. "N-need you-your h-help."

K-2SO marched over to him and tilted his head, assessing Cassian’s wounds.  
“Did Master Draven do this?” K-2SO inquired.

Cassian coughed and nodded.

(Cassian should've checked his surroundings better. Maybe he would've noticed Bodhi and Jyn sitting there, engaged in a game of sabacc.)

 

XXXII.

“Cassian.” Jyn said. “Come here.”

(“Shirt off.” Draven demanded.)

Cassian swallowed nervously.

(“You disobeyed my commands. You know what this means.”)

Jyn raised her hand, and—

(He raised the whip, and—)

—she touched his cheek gently. Cassian flinched.

 

XXXIII.

Draven sent him on his first mission since Scarif and gave him orders to find and kill someone who they suspected to be an undercover Imperial officer.

Cassian looked through his scope, his finger on the trigger. It would be so easy, just the twitch of a few muscles and—

(Cassian ended up bringing them in, rather than killing them.)

 

XXXIV.

Cassian presented himself to Draven, back bare and open.

Draven looked at him, a strange expression on his face. “You are no longer mine to punish, Andor.”

He chuckled. “You should ask your team, they insisted—“

Cassian didn’t stay to hear the rest of the sentence.

 

XXXV.

Cassian kneeled before Jyn, head bowed and back bare. His nose touched the floor. He trembled. With Draven, it was easier. He knew what to expect. Rage, fury, and gentle impatience. Here, he was out of his depth. Perhaps Jyn would be kinder, or perhaps—

“Cassian.” Jyn said, jolting him out of his thought.

Cassian didn’t say anything. Draven didn’t like it when he spoke during a punishment.

“Cassian.” She said louder. A hand reached under and tilted Cassian’s head up. Jyn was kneeling on the ground in front of him.

“It’s okay.” She said, and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re free, Cassian. You’re free.”

**Author's Note:**

> I might write a sequel....  
> EDIT: I'm writing the sequel...


End file.
